Archive for surplus

Sigh. Yes, once again, Fox Biz is forcing me to bring you positive economic news, this time about a budget surplus.

I'm so sorry. I know how you thrive on negativity, and there's plenty to go around, but every once in awhile, a ray of sunshine breaks through. Damn you, economic recovery, damn you!

And because I know how you insist on relying on Fox to bring us the most accurate news bulletins and stories evah, I feel obligated to share their email alerts whether you like them or not.

Of course, we all know that all of the upticks in the economy are due to Republican lawmakers and their insistence on austerity and cuts, cuts cuts, right? Just ask all the unemployed, the families living in poverty, and Big Corporate America.

Okay, time to end the snarkitude, because I'm making myself nauseous:

The federal government posted a budget surplus of $53 billion in December, compared to a $1 billion deficit in the same month in 2012. The fiscal year-to-date deficit is running at $174 billion, down by 41% from the same period the year prior.

It's time for Blood Pressure Crisis Sunday! Today's blood pressure crisis was brought on by a Meet the Press (surprise!) segment with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and a subsequent and unrelated MSNBC interview with a member of the military.

Frankly, I can't bring myself to re-watch the Jindal interview, so I'll post it without the usual transcript excerpts. If you can make it through the entire thing, you'll see why I was so exasperated:

In short, Jindal did nothing but lie and exhibit his usual hypocrisy. He was asked a direct question about the state of the Republican party, but he refused to respond, instead going off on his usual "privatize and de-unionize" education speechifying, couching his argument in gauzier terms that the non-political junkie might misinterpret in his favor. His idea of the American Dream is a countrywide enforcement of the bigotry and corporate goals of the GOP-- or as he called it "the stupid party."

He also blamed President Obama for wanting to shut down the government. Seriously.

Following Meet the Press was Weekends with Alex Witt sans Alex Witt (I can't find the video). The host interviewed a member of the military (apologies for not catching his name, rank, and serial number, but I was listening from another room and popped in only long enough to scream at the Tee Vee Machine). They were discussing Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) who was just sentenced to 35 years in prison and announced his intention to transition from male to female.

Putting aside the arguments over whether the military prison in Fort Leavenworth should accommodate her for now, I was struck by the blatant insensitivity and apparent bigotry of the guest. His attitude screamed, "Manning casually decided to be a girl on a whim, tough luck freak, now enjoy your time in the slammer."

How about respecting that instead of belittling and willfully making false assumptions, "sir"? Even if he broke the law, he's still a human being. How about educating yourself instead of perpetuating ignorance and misinformation, "sir"?

The increasingly deteriorating discourse and dearth of challenges to what passes for informed commentary fed to viewing and listening audiences are not only infuriating, they're scary... and they are harmful to democracy.

The U.S. federal budget surplus came in at $112.9 billion in April, up from $59 billion in the same month in 2012. The government is running a $488 billion deficit for fiscal 2013, down from $720 billion in a comparable period in fiscal 2012.

It was the first monthly surplus since January and the biggest monthly surplus since the $159 billion budget surplus of April 2008.

Tax receipts were $407 billion, up 28% versus April 2012 [...]

Some see the government’s improving finances as affecting a potential debt deal between President Barack Obama and Republicans. “With the deficit plunging, support for entitlement reform — which looked so promising in early April — has clearly faded,” wrote Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Potomac Research Group in a note on Friday.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. government ran a budget surplus of $3 billion in January, the Treasury Department reported on Tuesday, the first monthly surplus since September 2012. The surplus was driven by a 16% increase in revenues compared to January 2012, including from the expiration of a temporary payroll-tax cut at the end of 2012. For the first four months of fiscal 2013, the U.S. ran a deficit of $290 billion, $59 billion less than the same period in fiscal 2012. The government's fiscal year runs from October to September.